Williston

Williston started as a place with an almond tree. Johan Abraham Nel planted that tree on his farm by the Sak River in 1768 to mark the birth of one of his sons. A century later, the tree had become a landmark and a gathering point. A mission station grew around it, then a town. By 1881 it was declared a municipality. For 38 more years it was known as Amandelboom until it was renamed Williston in 1919 after Colonel Hampden Willis, British Colonial Secretary of the Cape Colony. The almond tree is gone. The dryness remains.

Williston sits 103 km northeast of Calvinia and 140 km southwest of Carnarvon, at an elevation of 1,078 metres on the western Karoo plateau. It is the main town and administrative seat of the Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality, which covers Fraserburg and Sutherland as well. The surrounding district is sheep farming country, and the plains here have the quality of all high Karoo: flat, scrubby, vast, and surprisingly compelling once you stop comparing it to other landscapes.

The town is small and quiet. The Karoo character is complete: wide streets, old buildings, a church, the particular silence of a place where the wind sometimes moves and sometimes doesn't. The night skies are good, for the same reasons they're good at Sutherland 100 km to the southeast. There are a few guesthouses and farm stays in the district. The small Sak River runs near town and there are some local walks.

Williston is not a destination with a marquee attraction. It's a genuine Karoo town that has survived on farming and municipal function. Coming here means understanding the Karoo on its own terms, which is a particular kind of reward.